


The Fate We Choose For Ourselves

by TwilightKnight17



Series: Shuake Confidant Week 2018 [4]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, M/M, Travel, Wild Cards on the run, Wow, new heights of self-indulgence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-13 23:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16481546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17
Summary: Akira and Goro decide they’ve had enough.[Hours!AU]





	The Fate We Choose For Ourselves

**Author's Note:**

> November 1st, Day Four: Domestic/Home/ **Trust**
> 
> This branches off from the end of [chapter 54 of Butterfly Cascade](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12747186/chapters/33925355), but if you’re willing to accept that certain people are alive and not ask too many questions, you’re probably fine. ^_^

**December 24th, 2016**

“It’s not too late to run for it,” Akira said, only half-joking as he tugged a pajama shirt over his head. It would be a shame, since this was his first night back in his room in over a month, but at this rate it might be worth it. Even with everything over and done, things still weren’t any better for the two of them.

He heard a choked noise behind him and turned around as Goro tried to muffle a sob into his hands. He crossed the room in a second, drawing him in close.

“Hey, hey,” he whispered, reaching up to wipe at the tears rolling down Goro’s cheeks. “We’re going to be okay. They promised. Niijima-san’s going to take care of us.”

“It’s just not fair,” Goro said weakly. “I finally feel like I have something worth keeping, something real, and it’s going to be taken away. _Again_. That thing is dead, and Shido’s been arrested, and they’re still taking everything from me. Are we sure it’s not something about _me_ that means I can’t have anything that makes me happy? I know that I don’t deserve it after what I’ve done, but...”

Akira leaned in to kiss him, soft and slow. “Then let’s go,” he said against Goro’s lips. “Let’s just go.”

Goro pulled back to stare at him, wide-eyed. “W-What?” he whispered. “But...we can’t. You have to testify against Shido, and I… I have to go with the Shadow Operatives.”

“I’m so tired of adults,” Akira said, ducking his head. “I’m so tired. We’ve done enough, Goro. We killed a god to save this city, and now they want to punish us even more? Doesn’t saving the world balance out the wrongs we’ve done?” He squeezed Goro’s shoulders. “Let Niijima-san deal with Shido. I don’t want them to take you away from me. Not again.”

“I don’t want you to go to jail,” Goro admitted softly. “But what about the others? What about Sakura-san?”

“We warn them,” Akira said. “But only so they know not to tell anyone anything.”

Goro considered it. They had money. They could pack clothes easily. Stopping at his apartment would be a few minutes, and then they could vanish. And he didn’t trust Kirijo-san at all.

“...okay.”

“Okay?” Akira asked, just to confirm.

“Yes.” Goro clutched handfuls of Akira’s shirt. “I don’t trust the Shadow Operatives. I trust _you_.”

Akira smiled, leaning in for another kiss. “Let’s change back to normal clothes and do this, then.”

They left under the cover of night, taking two backpacks of clothes and necessities and their phones. The ride to Goro’s apartment was tense, but no one was waiting to ambush them, and Goro went in to collect a few things. There was a box of cup noodles from the pantry, so they would have something simple to eat, a few extra clothes and toiletries, and his photo of his mother, and that was all.

“Are you sure?” Akira asked.

Goro nodded. “Ask the others to look after my things for me. Sae-san has a spare key.” He tilted his head curiously. “Where are we going on this whirlwind escape?”

Akira reached for his hand, squeezing gently. “I’ve heard Kyoto is nice this time of year,” he said.

“...that sounds perfect.”

As the last bullet train pulled away from the station that night, Akira tucked his phone into his pocket, turned off after a final message to their friends, and shifted Goro to a more comfortable position dozing against his shoulder. Thankfully Futaba had made their phones unhackable and untraceable. In a few hours, they’d be in Kyoto, and they would be safe.

* * *

**December 25th, 2016**

“What do you mean, they’re gone?!” Mitsuru cried the next morning. “Where did they go?”

Sojiro continued prepping the empty coffee pots. “I got here this morning and went up to check on them, and they weren’t there. And most of Akira’s clothes were gone. I have no idea where they went.”

“Did Niijima do this? Did she take both of them?” the leader of the Shadow Operatives demanded.

“Niijima hasn’t even gotten here yet,” Sojiro huffed. “They aren’t here, and I’m going to have to deal with her in probably fifteen minutes, so go do whatever if you’re not going to buy a coffee.”

Mitsuru glared at him, but Sojiro didn’t react in the slightest, and she stalked out of the cafe and pulled out her phone.

“Minato. Things haven’t gone as expected. We need to talk.”

Within ten minutes of the phone call, Mitsuru met Minato in the cafe near Center Street’s Velvet door. Minato looked a lot less alarmed than she was expecting, and it was making her impending headache worse.

“They’re afraid,” Minato said calmly, once she’d explained the situation. “Honestly, senpai, I can’t really blame them. One of them was facing jail despite all the good he did, and the other one didn’t know _what_ we were going to do to him. Why should they trust us? They had every means to get away, and they used them.”

“I knew we should have kept an eye on them. I was too soft; I shouldn’t have let Kurusu have an extra night. Now we have two rogue Wild Cards on our hands.” Mitsuru stared at her untouched Frui-tea with irritation. “And even if the other Thieves know where they were going, there’s no way they’re going to talk.”

Minato shook his head. “You were kind to two boys who were already scared enough. They _are_ Wild Cards, so this is more my territory. I know how to find them, so please don’t worry. Let me and Ryoji take care of it.”

Mitsuru levelled a flat stare at him. “I want your word that you will actually take care of it. Those two cannot be left to roam around without keeping tabs on them.”

“You mean like Minazuki Sho?” Minato asked wryly, and Mitsuru sighed.

“Minazuki never strays too far from wherever Narukami is. We don’t have to worry about him.”

Minato smiled. “I’ll handle them, Mitsuru-senpai. You have my word.” He was already making plans in his head, figuring out the best way to handle this delicately. He knew how he would have reacted if someone had tried to take Ryoji away from him, and he wasn’t half so wary of trusting others as Kurusu Akira and Akechi Goro.

Wherever they were right now, he just hoped they were safe, and were having a good Christmas. After everything they had been through, they deserved a little bit of peace.

* * *

**January 1st, 2017**

Kiyomizu-dera on the first day of the new year was packed, but somehow, neither Akira nor Goro minded at all. Anonymity in the crowd was refreshing. They’d been in Kyoto for a week now, with no sign of the Shadow Operatives, but the lingering feeling of being hunted was still there. They’d been staying in a small inn in the city, taking care not to do anything that could give away their identities, but there was always a chance that they’d get caught.

Here, though, among people celebrating, it was easy to feel safe. They walked the terraces, admiring the snowy view, and drank from the waterfalls. Akira tried to convince Goro to go to the ‘love shrine’ and was solidly rebuffed, but not without earning a blush. And they made their wishes for the new year, hoping that they wouldn’t have to stay away from their friends for too long.

Akira had risked a single text to Sojiro, who reminded him to be careful and that he was waiting for them to come home, but other than that they hadn’t made any contact. It was too dangerous.

“So apparently the waterfall we drank from is the one for good health and longevity,” Goro said, flipping through a pamphlet that Akira was certain was for tourists. Most of it was in English, but his boyfriend was practically fluent, so it all worked.

“Well, we don’t need wealth, and we’re pretty happy…” Akira said with a grin. He caught Goro’s hand, tugging him towards a different walkway. “C’mon, there’s less people over here, and you can see really far.”

Goro followed behind him contentedly, tucking the brochure into the pocket of his coat. Akira was right, the view was incredible, and the crowd dwindled to just the occasional passerby as they looked out over the trees. “I’m glad that I came with you,” he murmured. “I cannot imagine you locked away in a cell.”

Akira curled an arm around his waist to hold him close. “I don’t want to think of what the Shadow Operatives would have done to you, either. I just want you to have a chance to live. We’re free here; no one can tell us to do anything.”

They stayed there for a long time, leaning into each other, breathing the cold air and taking in the peaceful atmosphere of the temple. But gradually both of them became aware of a strange feeling, and Akira realized that two of the passers-by hadn’t actually passed by. He slowly turned to look, and swallowed hard as he realized it was the two that had been in the Velvet Room before the fight against Yaldabaoth.

“The weather is beautiful,” the blue-haired man said quietly, walking over to the railing to look at the trees. Goro clutched at Akira’s sleeve and took a step back, but the man didn’t look their direction. “I’m Arisato Minato. This is Mochizuki Ryoji. I’m glad you two are safe.”

“We’d be safer if you weren’t here,” Goro bit out. “We’re not going back with you.”

“Why do you think we want to take you anywhere?” Ryoji asked casually, and Akira scowled.

“Why else would you be here? You’re Shadow Operatives. Just leave us alone.” His eyes scanned the walkway, looking for the quickest escape route.

Minato, when he finally looked at them, seemed sad. “Kurusu-kun, Akechi-kun…” he said gently. “We just want to talk to you. We aren’t going to try to capture you or anything.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Akira said. “You’re going to try to get us to go back and face Kirijo-san, and we won’t.”

“You’re afraid,” Minato said. “That’s fair. I understand.”

Goro took a shaky breath. “If you understand, why did you hunt us down?” His arm coiled around Akira’s waist as he tried to ground himself in his boyfriend’s presence. “We’ve been through so much. More than you can possibly know. And we just...we don’t want to live in chains. We just want to be left alone.” His voice cracked, anger blistering through in his tone. “I finally have someone I want to protect more than anything, and Kirijo-san wanted to take that away!” They were in public; they were at every disadvantage. If they caused a scene, there was too much of a chance that they would be questioned and recognized. They were essentially at the mercy of the Shadow Operatives.

But the Shadow Operatives were silent, and Ryoji reached up and put a hand on Minato’s shoulder. Minato covered it with his own, his expression melancholy. “I _do_ know,” he said. “Ryoji was nearly taken away from me, and I fought as hard as I could to keep him.” His storm-colored eyes were soft as he looked at Goro and Akira. “I want to make you an offer. Please, hear me out.”

“You’ve basically cornered us in public. Do we have a choice to not listen?” Akira snarked.

Minato ducked his head. “Ryoji and I live in a former dorm building in the city of Iwatodai. There’s plenty of space, and we can ask Mitsuru not to visit for a while. I want both of you to come stay with us, just for a few days. See what it would be like. And if you’re unhappy, we’ll let you go, no strings attached.”

Goro hesitated. “And if we refuse?” He couldn’t imagine anything good would come of denying them, which meant this was more ultimatum than offer.

“I don’t know,” Minato admitted. “Mitsuru’s pretty worried about the two of you running around unchecked. If Ryoji and I can’t do anything to convince you, she might send Yu instead, and Yu’s a lot more ‘lawful’ good than ‘neutral’ good. He’d take you both straight back to Tokyo if he could catch you.” He caught himself, adding, “That’s not meant as a threat. Yu and I are just different people, with different ideas of how to do good. I don’t want either of you in any kind of prison. I don’t want you to be afraid. I just want to know you’re safe and comfortable.”

The two Thieves glanced at each other warily. Neither of them had ever even _heard_ of Iwatodai. Going off with these people, even if they had helped them in the Velvet Room, to a strange city where they didn’t have the advantage of knowing the best escape routes...it felt like too much of a risk. It would be nice to believe that Kirijo Mitsuru could be held off on their word, but it just wasn’t reasonable. She wanted them separated. She wanted them punished. And they would keep running as long as it took for her to give up.

“It’s kind of you to offer,” Akira said eventually, doing his best to keep his voice even. “But we can’t. I hope you understand why.”

Minato nodded. “I do. And I want you to know that the offer is always open. If everything gets to be too much, come find us in Iwatodai, and we’ll protect you. Do you have money?”

“My sister’s made us pretty untraceable,” Akira replied. “It’s kind of surprising how easy it is to make sure an ATM doesn’t remember who you are.”

“Good.” Minato reached for Ryoji’s hand and squeezed. “Go, then. Just be careful. And remember what I told you, if you need anything.”

Goro found it hard to believe this was going so well, but he ducked his head, trying to be as polite as Akira had. “Thank you, Arisato-san, Mochizuki-san.”

“You’re welcome. Always.” And with that, the two Shadow Operatives walked away, disappearing into the crowds of other visitors beyond the walkway.

Both Akira and Goro sucked in a breath, realizing how shallowly they’d been breathing the entire time. They’d fully expected to have to run, maybe even fight, and it took a moment for the adrenaline they’d barely noticed to bleed out of them.

“I didn’t think they would let us go,” Goro admitted weakly.

Akira huffed a laugh. “Neither did I, if I’m being honest. At least they understand why we don’t trust them. But… I don’t think they were lying about leaving us alone. Arisato-san’s a Wild Card, like us. He gets it.”

Wild Cards were supposed to shape their own fates, after all, and neither of them ever had a chance to properly choose. Maybe this was Minato’s way of giving them that opportunity. Regardless, they weren’t going to waste it.

“Kyoto’s been fun, I think, but...we should probably move on in the next day or so,” Akira said, leaning into Goro and nosing at his jaw. “Where do you want to go this time?”

“Osaka seems like an interesting place to visit,” Goro replied, tilting his head to kiss Akira’s nose. “We’ll be fine. As long as we’re together, we’ll be fine.”

Akira nodded.

“Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this idea in reserve, but don’t have the fortitude for a whole fic along this line. There would probably be a confrontation with Yu or someone somewhere in there, though. And they’d eventually end up safely in Iwatodai, but not for a while.
> 
> Kiyomizu really is a beautiful temple. Look up some pictures, because it's my second-favorite one that I visited when I was in Japan.


End file.
